Illinois alumnus and actor, humorist, author and woodworker Nick Offerman, best known for his role as Ron Swanson on the NBC hit comedy series "Parks and Recreation," will be the U. of I.’s commencement speaker Saturday, May 13.

Mats Selen, professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been named Outstanding Doctoral and Research Universities Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Dr. King Li, a renowned researcher, educator, inventor and clinician in molecular imaging and radiology, will become the inaugural dean and chief academic officer of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine effective Oct. 1.

Illinois alumnus Jeff Huber, whose company is developing a revolutionary blood test to detect early stage cancer, will be the U. of I.'s commencement speaker on Saturday, May 14. The event starts at 9:30 a.m. in Memorial Stadium.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reached record levels of undergraduate and total enrollment this semester, and also set high marks for diversity and first-generation representation in the freshman class.

A new book, “An Illini Place – Building the University of Illinois Campus,” covers the history of the planning and building of the University of Illinois campus and why the campus looks the way it does.

The Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the first engineering-based medical school, has received preliminary acreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and is recruiting students for its first class.

Faculty and staff members, and graduate teaching assistants at the U. of I. were honored April 26 for excellence in teaching, mentoring and advising. Each was recognized during a reception at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center.

A U. of I. journalism alumnus who is now the newsroom attorney for The New York Times got some unexpected online attention last week. The focus of that attention was his response to an open letter from Donald Trump’s attorney, demanding the paper retract and apologize for a story. McCraw’s brief letter to the attorney, published on the Times site, went viral on social media and shot to the top of the paper's most-read content. In an interview, he talks about the letter, his job and what he learned at Illinois.

Six professors at the University of Illinois have been named 2016 Guggenheim Fellows, bringing to 13 the number of U. of I. faculty members who have been honored with the fellowship over the last three years. This year’s fellows are Dennis Baron, Karin A. Dahmen, Craig Koslofsky, Mei-Po Kwan, Ralph W. Mathisen and Rebecca Stumpf.

Tim Nugent, who died Wednesday at the age of 92 in Urbana, Illinois, was a visionary who changed the world for people with disabilities. Starting with a small program at the University of Illinois a few years after World War II – but for years with little support, and often outright opposition – Nugent sought to change both the opportunities for people with disabilities and public attitudes about them.

Currently the dean of libraries and university librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, John Wilkin will become the interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost designate effective Feb. 18.

Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell will join the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences effective Aug. 16, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Five faculty members have been named to the 2017 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list (previously known as the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list). The list recognizes “leading researchers in the sciences and social sciences from around the world."

Effective Jan. 18, the popular self-balancing motorized devices known as hoverboards will not be allowed in any facilities owned, leased, occupied or controlled by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

U. of I. student Leah Matchett, of Grand Haven, Michigan, is one of more than 30 students from the United States selected as Marshall Scholars for postgraduate study at a university in the United Kingdom.

Seven Urbana campus faculty members have been named University Scholars and will be honored at a campus reception Sept. 28 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana.

University of Illinois physics professor Klaus Schulten, an innovator in the use of computational methods to study the chemical and biological processes driving living cells, died Monday, Oct. 31, at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. He was 69.

Last-minute shoppers will find many gift options on the U. of I. campus, including books on the wildlife of Illinois, a charming set of Nutcracker characters, Fighting Illini bobbleheads and a Star Wars-themed coffee mug -- items that say “Illini” in their own unique ways.

Andreas Cangellaris has been selected by Chancellor Robert Jones to be the Urbana campus’s next vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost. Cangellaris, the dean of the College of Engineering, will start in his new role Jan. 16, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Six Urbana campus faculty members have been named University Scholars and will be honored at a campus reception Sept. 26 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana.

The new iMSA degree will be for working professionals who want access to quality education from a top-three accounting program with unmatched ties to the accounting field, as well as students new to the accounting profession, said W. Brooke Elliott, the EY Distinguished Professor in Accounting at Illinois.

Three University of Illinois students have been nationally recognized for their potential to contribute to the advancement of research in the natural sciences, mathematics or engineering. Two of the students were awarded Barry M. Goldwater scholarships for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years, and a third earned honorable mention.

A committee to identify and recruit the next director of athletics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will proceed expeditiously but thoroughly in that process, Interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson said today in announcing the committee roster.

One hundred forty-one freshmen and sophomores at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been designated Chancellor’s Scholars, chosen for their academic excellence and leadership potential, in the Campus Honors Program this fall.

The history of Latinos in baseball is the subject of a new documentary, “Playing America’s Game,” which premieres Saturday, May 21, on the Big Ten Network. A production of BTN and the University of Illinois, the film profiles U. of I. history professor Adrian Burgos Jr., a leading expert on Latino baseball history.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will award the Chancellor’s Medallion -- the highest campus honor -- to three men who have dedicated their professional lives to preserving the history of the university.

University of Illinois faculty member Rebecca Ginsburg is among a small group of college and university leaders invited to participate in an upcoming roundtable discussion on prison reform at the White House.

James D. Anderson, the head of the department of education policy, organization and leadership and the executive associate dean for the College of Education, will become the interim dean of the College of Education effective Aug. 16.

The second annual Illini Success, an analysis of information gleaned from survey responses and other reports, draws from the experiences of those who completed undergraduate degrees in August 2015, December 2015 and May 2016.